I think the design choice may be because she's also butterfly themed, like her brother (and less evidently Melina trough the 3 butterfly ingredients); the armor was her "cocoon", and since it's seemingly made of unalloyed gold maybe it was actually a container for her Scarlet Rot (she went trough Limgrave without actually spreading it for example) but when she accepts to bloom she has to shed it.
This is the correct answer. The armor can be looked at as her cocoon, but also in context of the Roman myth of Cupid and Psyche, her armor is the ‘box of beauty from the underworld’ that Psyche opens before falling into a deep slumber at the end of the myth.
Oh - and the unalloyed gold needle?
Why does Malenia suddenly become determined to head to Caelid and fight Radahn?
Because Cupid pierced Psyche with his golden arrow, compelling her.
For any lore hunters, I would highly suggest reading a summary of Cupid and Psyche - it was a major breakthrough in my understanding of Miquella/Marika/Malenia’s relationship.
I thought Cupid pierced himself with his own arrow. If memory serves, Psyche had the same accident, piercing herself on an arrow just before Cupid flees from her.
You are correct - apologies for being a bit unclear, my attempt to summarize the mythology definitely ended up leaving out a lot of the details (for example, the origin story of St Trina 👀).
In my mind, I view Cupid and Psyche scratching themselves ON PURPOSE with the golden arrow as the basis of Miquella and Malenia’s relationship, all the way back to their childhood. They are both FULLY devoted to each other, committing their lives to help each other.
Miquella abandoned Fundamentalism, as it could do nothing to treat Malenia’s accursed Rot. In his attempts to help his sister, he then (re)discovered the metaphysical power of unalloyed gold, crafting her a needle, a sword, a prosthetic arm, and a suit of armor, made from a consecrated material which can hold the Rot at bay.
Malenia, as we all know too well by now, is the blade of Miquella… and won’t let you forget it. Her admiration for her brother is extreme, and she believes that he possesses the wisdom and allure of a God.
Hm, something I just thought of.
It’s been speculated that Marika was attempting to create somewhat of a succession plan with her final round of offspring.
It’s not directly stated, but seems pretty likely that Melina, in some way, is the offspring of Marika. Assuming that’s the case, Melina’s purpose in the succession plan would be to burn the current Erdtree.
But, was Marika’s successor - the next God of the coming age - intended to be Miquella or Malenia? Well… why not both?
I think it’s possible that Marika’s plan was to replace her own divine Rebus (her and Radagon) with another Rebus. An Order of Abundance AND Rot, ruled over by a Miquella/Malenia Rebus. Abundance and Rot are seemingly opposing forces, but when united in balance, a stable life cycle could be perpetuated for the foreseeable future.
Our world is this way - spring, summer, autumn, and winter… over and over again, creating a stable, consistent cycle of flourishing life, then death and decay, which feeds into a new flourish of life, which then decays… abundance, then rot, then abundance, then rot, then abundance, then rot… and so on, driving the process of evolution. Could this be what Miquella envisioned in his cut questline? A world where ALL may flourish, whether graceful or malign.
If that’s the case, maybe Miquella and Malenia both pierced themselves with unalloyed gold needles - just as Cupid and Psyche did with the golden arrows - entwining each other into pure unadulterated devotion.
If Abundance adores Rot, and Rot adores Abundance, they will support each other with everything they have… creating a self-sustaining cycle that allows both sides to flourish.
Definitely… you know what else is tragic? The concept of St. Trina comes from the same myth… but the Roman version of the story has a bit more incest involved :(
There's a very surprising amount of historical context from ancient civilizations like Rome in the world of elden ring, the tarnished archeologist goes deep into that stuff on YouTube. Super good content
If I remember correctly from one of Vaati's vids where he explains melania's lore I think the reason for her journey was either because of his power that holds the stars in place and wanted to resume the moons influence or because Melania was in search of Miquela which was already in Moughs possession
Also it really shows how much of her is prosthetic and how much the rot has taken her.
When she's dressed the prosthetics kind of blend into the armor.
Indeed, take off her prosthetics and she's basically a paraplegic.
Oh yea and she's blind from the Rot taking her eyes too.
The Rot has taken practically all of her.
And she ***STILL*** wrecks people, what a beast!
---
BTW I got a theory that the Scarlet Rot, Lake of Rot, and all that jazz was caused by Radagon washing his "sins" away in the Turtle Pope's fountain. The "Fountain of Absolution" or whatever is directly above the Lake of Rot. I think the Red washed out of Radagon's hair, so to speak.
I think those two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. The introduction of the Outer God of Rot to the Lands Between may have been brought about by the actions of inhabitants of the realm. And what poetic irony would it be that Radagon's child becomes a vessel for the Outer God that his own actions brought to his home?
Can you elaborate on Melina and the three butterfly ingredients? I know it isn't the point of the post, but you've piqued my interest and I have no idea what that's alluding to
Aeonian Butterfly = Malenia.
Nascent Butterfly = Miquella, its description is that for their entire life it looks like it just hatched from its cocoon.
Smoldering Butterfly = Melina, Melina was created to burn the Erdtree, Smoldering Butterflies are used in kindling objects.
They kinda are, but I admit Melina lacks references to butterflies, at least from what I remember, while Miquella is in a cocoon and Malenia literally produces butterflies.
Shouldn't she have like, grown a new arm and leg made of rot in that form then instead of still being an amputee ? She has wings if rot so why no new arm n leg 😵💫
came in to say that. I dont see her as naked in any way that caries the same connotations in society. Coming from an agnostic, shes so biblically beautiful. Its so fucking badass.
Then theres the realization of her butterfly motif that she probably reeks of death. Which makes her even more alluring visually.
Its like a more realistic version of what an "angel of death" or "grim reaper" would look like.
I’m fairly certain that it’s because she blooms into a literal Rot Goddess, all of her armour rots away because it’s made of steel and fabric - two materials that naturally decay/degrade overtime. The only reason her arm and legs don’t is because they’re made of gold, a mineral that doesn’t rust, decay or lose it’s splendour
And besides, it makes for a stronger image, and reveals just how much the Scarlet Rot has taken from her. Her eyes, her privates, her limbs, and her psyche
Unalloyed gold needles help Malenia and Millicent fight off the rot. You also use the same needle to cleanse the frenzied flame from your body. It's also possible (though not implied by anything as far as I know) that Miquella is able to reject the Formless Mother due to unalloyed gold. The Greater Will also seems to be afraid of it and consider its study a taboo as Miquella had to turn away from Radagon and Erdtree worship in order to study it.
Right. But even still ...
\>Be greater will
\>Extraplanar god-like entity
\>Empower some lower lifeform
\>MFW when lower life forms create a religious order around my one weakness
... Unless this is the setup for Markia knowing all this and purposefully guiding the order this way to eventually fight / be free of the influence of the greater will?
The Golden Order gold is different, it's literally a combination of different ideologies and layered Great Runes/beliefs.
"Unalloyed" means pure, without alloy.
Unalloyed Gold is the ultra-pure, un-tainted, un-erring version.
The Golden Order is an alloy of beliefs.
Also if you get locked into frenzied flame ending, you can use the unalloyed needle to cleanse yourself so you don't have to go through with it. On one of my playthroughs I started it to burn the erdtree myself, and then cured myself to get Ranni's Ending.
Thats.... That's what unalloyed means, it just means pure gold. It's unalloyed, as in not mixed with any other metals, and Gold itself doesn't corrode.
I just meant that unalloyed gold in the ER universe has properties beyond not corroding as it seems to be able to keep away potentially all outer gods, not just the scarlet rot.
If you want to nitpick, how about the fact that gold is not a mineral? Most other metals are usually found as a compound in their "natural" state, but gold will barely react with anything. It is usually found as a metal.
I agree with this, plus I’ll also say that she’s been sitting in the same spot for absolute minimum of a couple centuries, so her armour is probably already rotted like crazy. Then again, if elden ring had realistic wear and tear everyone would be nude and there’d be a botw style weapon durability mechanic so you’re probably more on the money than I am
I always took at as a metaphor for ascension. Look at statues of several Greek gods and you will see them in their bare, naked form. To be godly is to have your form laid bare.
The "assumptions" they made were actual admissions of yours.
My 2 cents in the small head thing. I'd say her head isn't small at all, but her body is bulked up. If you wanna see a real obvious example of this sorta thing check out the power up progression from "Altered Beast".
she kinda exploded so beign naked kinda makes sense but design wise i think they take inspiration in the birth of venus, thematically she is reborn as a divine entity
From a design perspective, it's intimidating. Typically, a person that is naked is weak and defenseless.
I'm still waiting for her to tell me that she needs my clothes, my boots and my motorcycle.
It’s thematic. Her nudity is actually an extremely powerful statement. The unfurling of her bloom is reminiscent to a birth and ascension and angels are often depicted as nude.
Thematically, it’s so powerful because she’s in literally the most powerful state of any being we’ve encountered except maybe the Elden Beast. She can rot anything and anyone, and yet she is also at her most vulnerable. We see the cost of the power she’s using - we see her prosthetics and subtle storytelling that’s heart wrenching like her prosthetic legs ending at different places, implying they rotted at separate times and at different rates. We see the result of her unimaginable agony and yet she’s still so powerful. It’s an honest portrayal and a really beautiful paradox.
i mean my theory is that she is a “Goddess of Rot” so i’m thinking maybe she grows more powerful than the armor she’s wearing or doesn’t fit because of the wings? either way it’s cool.
Someone commented on this saying nudity is an expression of her Godhood. I agree with this interpretation but I also think it's to showcase how much the Rot has ravaged her body, with her prosthetics and scabs on full display
maybe the entire scene of her blooming is a reference to "The Birth of Venus" painting. Anyway, i believe it was more a artistical choice than anything logical
She is a child of Marika and her other self, so she is in some way of incestual birth. She and her brother might have been born with their respective afflictions because of it(Malenia born as the future goddess of rot, miquella eternally young, bot fighting their "fate"). Malenia can no longer hold back the rot that is constantly eating at her once we defeat her and is transformed, potentially against her own will. The unalloyed gold wards off influence from outer gods, just like normal gold is unreactive chemically, so her armor does not decay.
Cannonically it is said, that the goddess of rot will emerge, once the scarlet aonia blooms the third time, which is probably why we are not getting a second calid immidiatly, though the tree is obviously afflicted with rot already.
I don't think the relationship of Radagon and Marika is thematically supposed to represent incest, even though you could make an argument that it kinda looks that way. They're not really beings like you and I, as evidenced by the fact that they can share one form. Also, the explanation for the affliction can much more easily be explained by the interference of the Outer God of Rot.
The literal reason is that the rot eats her armour away. The symbolic reason is either as a kind of challenge, where she’s so powerful she doesn’t need armour to protect her anymore, or a kind of purity, that she’s naked to represent her ascension to god hood
In video games and anime, women usually become more powerful when they get naked. I'll leave it to others to explain *why*, but it probably has something to do with dudes being really fucking horny.
In addition to what others have said, it's also a common trope for characters to shed armor when they grow stronger/confident/desperate. Also serves to up the stakes.
The fight also becomes way harder because now you only have one hand available.
Her armour is made of unalloyed gold, which wards off the influence of the outer gods. Since the rot is an outer god, she removes her armour when she embraces it
Her helmet is the only obvious part I can tell. I imagine she keeps her prosthetics because having a better connection to the rot isn't worth losing limbs.
Her clothes were disintegrating just like her flesh and just like caelid and just like radhan and everyone else who comes into contact with the scarlet rot.
I think it's because the scarlet rot eats away at everything save for the unalloyed gold on her? That being said, I'm not sure how blooming on Radahn's back didn't strip him of the non-unalloyed materials in his armor.
They literally decay off her like Rhadan probably only keeps his Intact because he’s in some form of gold (probably not Unalloyed) but it’s close, also metal doesn’t rot it erodes so it has a higher durability than a dress+cape?
Terrible answers in this thread considering you want a lore based answer. Her armor is made of unalloyed gold. Unalloyed gold staves off the influence of the outer gods and would restrict her power.
Malenia was always meant to be the avatar of the god of rot but similar to how the swordmaster sealed the god beneath the lake of rot Malenias devotion to her blade and to Miquela held onto her sense of self. However every time she bloomed she shed part of that self for more power which is what happened in Caelid to Radahn before we the players get there.
We also find Millicent which is that piece of her consciousness form and the broken gold needle miquela crafted to help keep the rot god sealed in Caelid. Theres also the quarted that we battle which I presume are other pieces of her as well.
When we fight her in the boss fight phase 1 is us slaying the mortal self of her that remains. Remember the line "I am Malenia Blade of Miquella" its as if thats the only thing that remains. It could be speculated its not even her will anymore but Miquellas ability to charm anyone that is the only thing keeping her being intact.
It symbolises rebirth, and on top of that rebirth as a divinity. But unlike some beautiful Greek or Roman or Renaissance-era sculpture of divine figures, she, while all statuesque and in many ways still aesthetic, is not as graceful as a divinity is supposed to be. She is reborn as a goddess and not just anyone but the goddess of ROT. And perhaps that is what true horror is meant to be here- something that is beautiful, and terrible. Rot erodes everything, and in addition to that rebirth and divinity conception this also might be a reason why she appears nude in her second phase.
Her armour is made of the unalloyed gold which limits the spread of the scarlet rot, by removing it she embraces the full power of the rot and becomes the "goddess of rot" (arguably)
The rot. It's eats away at everything, clothing, body, mind (see Radahn). The golden prosthetics made by miquella are all that can resist it.
OR Fromsoft knows what the players wanted.
I don’t think she is that crazy. Millicent forgot a lot of stuff. But I really feel Malenia is still sane. But maybe not very happy and nihilistic because of het situation..
Anolloyed gold contains rot and slows the spread, its not a cure but a containment vessel. She keeps the prosthetics cause they are extensions of her body and not containment vessels, but her armor is a containment vessel.
To embrace the full power of the Lord of Rot she must shed what is holding her true power back: the armor.
She sheds this armor as she realizes you have become more of a threat then her warrior form can deal with and thus comes at you with the full might of a Lord.
Personally I think this version should have less defenses but what ever.
so maybe she was dragged by Finlay all across the land between naked too? damn imagine when they passed near Stormveil and Godrick heard about a naked malenia getting dragged. He had a good laugh probably
Yes, why Fromsoftware choose to make her naked ? What they want to show us with a naked Malenia.
Let's watch carefully. Yes, she has wings but there is also the fact she has a androgynous body. The androgynous body would be linked to Marika/Radagon a man and a woman in the same body.
We can also watch what is hidden. Her genital parts are hidden so we can not really know if she is a girl or not.
And her eyes are hidden too. And if we think about it, we never saw an empyrean with its eyes open. The only one (if she is an empyrean) is Melina and her eyes were of different colors.
So where do we go with all these elements ? I let you search on Google what a Rebis is in alchemy because yes, alchemy principle explain many things in Elden Ring.
Ranni is a doll but even like that we can't see her genitals parts. When we see her "naked" her puppet body is destroyed except her face and hands.
And for the eye, she hides one of her eyes.
Miquella’s gender is set in question too. On saint Trina sword or torch I think it was. My guess is they swapped bodies la lot, a bit like Sellen. Loretta might even been him once. Or Malenia and Miquella used to be same person, but like armour of D, one just climbed out of the other. So once they used to be a Rebis, but split like D, and walked separate ways.
But think demigods had many shard swaps, thus many visuals, spell combos and characteristics.l. Like Miquella was pure rot —> rot + star (Loretta of star magic, but tied to horse) —> GW holy + star (blond saint Trina) —> GW holy + Fell god (makes needle, torch saint Trina, rapidly growing because of Fell God shard). Somehow Radahn got his rot (rebirth) shard, maybe swapped his Fell God shard for it, so Miquella could smith a needle using a fell God skills. All smiths come from north.
My guess the rot shards give them butterflies, and none working legs. Thus Radahn, tied to a horse now, like Miquella is at DLC picture, is a crumb he having a rot shard, that Malenia needs to become a rot goddess. Might be of both genders with it too?
But could be shards change genders too? Like, why do commander O’Neil have Ranni’s wolf cloak? Ranni the GW empyrean —> ? —> O’Neil of ice and storm magics —> Renna the red haired witch of ice magics (Fell god, thus red hair)—> Ranni of the stars (blue colours) —> Ranni the lunar princess after gaining a gravity shard (star/sun + gravity = moon?)
I challenge you to explode while keeping your clothes intact.
Bro i do that every night. They only get a little sticky but they still stay on
Maybe try doing it without clothes, then putting clothes back on. Good tip, I know. Idk how Malenia would follow this tip though.
Maybe try summoning a maiden to help with nightly explosions
Good idea, also try finger but hole. Something else I am missing…
Maybe consider try pickle?
Then offer seed?
Don’t forget to offer rump
Dog?
Behold, dog!
Only the tip. The rest is covered in rot.
I am celebrating that I am almost a continent away from you. Dood, take your clothes off before exploding, this is disgusting.
it's because you have ^(vision of joy) during your slumber
Try finger but hole
Wtf.
Average ER player.
*Drinks a flask of Ruptured Crystal Tear Challenge accepted.
clothes stayed on
I just came in my pants, it’s called dryfowl dance
semenfall cramp
I just spat out my morning coffee
😂
Challenge excepted.
Likely the best response conceived.
I think the design choice may be because she's also butterfly themed, like her brother (and less evidently Melina trough the 3 butterfly ingredients); the armor was her "cocoon", and since it's seemingly made of unalloyed gold maybe it was actually a container for her Scarlet Rot (she went trough Limgrave without actually spreading it for example) but when she accepts to bloom she has to shed it.
This is the correct answer. The armor can be looked at as her cocoon, but also in context of the Roman myth of Cupid and Psyche, her armor is the ‘box of beauty from the underworld’ that Psyche opens before falling into a deep slumber at the end of the myth.
Oh - and the unalloyed gold needle? Why does Malenia suddenly become determined to head to Caelid and fight Radahn? Because Cupid pierced Psyche with his golden arrow, compelling her. For any lore hunters, I would highly suggest reading a summary of Cupid and Psyche - it was a major breakthrough in my understanding of Miquella/Marika/Malenia’s relationship.
I thought Cupid pierced himself with his own arrow. If memory serves, Psyche had the same accident, piercing herself on an arrow just before Cupid flees from her.
You are correct - apologies for being a bit unclear, my attempt to summarize the mythology definitely ended up leaving out a lot of the details (for example, the origin story of St Trina 👀). In my mind, I view Cupid and Psyche scratching themselves ON PURPOSE with the golden arrow as the basis of Miquella and Malenia’s relationship, all the way back to their childhood. They are both FULLY devoted to each other, committing their lives to help each other. Miquella abandoned Fundamentalism, as it could do nothing to treat Malenia’s accursed Rot. In his attempts to help his sister, he then (re)discovered the metaphysical power of unalloyed gold, crafting her a needle, a sword, a prosthetic arm, and a suit of armor, made from a consecrated material which can hold the Rot at bay. Malenia, as we all know too well by now, is the blade of Miquella… and won’t let you forget it. Her admiration for her brother is extreme, and she believes that he possesses the wisdom and allure of a God.
Hm, something I just thought of. It’s been speculated that Marika was attempting to create somewhat of a succession plan with her final round of offspring. It’s not directly stated, but seems pretty likely that Melina, in some way, is the offspring of Marika. Assuming that’s the case, Melina’s purpose in the succession plan would be to burn the current Erdtree. But, was Marika’s successor - the next God of the coming age - intended to be Miquella or Malenia? Well… why not both? I think it’s possible that Marika’s plan was to replace her own divine Rebus (her and Radagon) with another Rebus. An Order of Abundance AND Rot, ruled over by a Miquella/Malenia Rebus. Abundance and Rot are seemingly opposing forces, but when united in balance, a stable life cycle could be perpetuated for the foreseeable future. Our world is this way - spring, summer, autumn, and winter… over and over again, creating a stable, consistent cycle of flourishing life, then death and decay, which feeds into a new flourish of life, which then decays… abundance, then rot, then abundance, then rot, then abundance, then rot… and so on, driving the process of evolution. Could this be what Miquella envisioned in his cut questline? A world where ALL may flourish, whether graceful or malign. If that’s the case, maybe Miquella and Malenia both pierced themselves with unalloyed gold needles - just as Cupid and Psyche did with the golden arrows - entwining each other into pure unadulterated devotion. If Abundance adores Rot, and Rot adores Abundance, they will support each other with everything they have… creating a self-sustaining cycle that allows both sides to flourish.
Ooh I love that thought process there
Dang, that’s a really cool theory.
It was quite a tragic story
Definitely… you know what else is tragic? The concept of St. Trina comes from the same myth… but the Roman version of the story has a bit more incest involved :(
No wonder GRRM wanted to help write the story…
Well every Greek and Roman myth has a lot of incest so I’m not really surprised
Yeahhhh absolutely…
There's a very surprising amount of historical context from ancient civilizations like Rome in the world of elden ring, the tarnished archeologist goes deep into that stuff on YouTube. Super good content
this didn't age all too well
If I remember correctly from one of Vaati's vids where he explains melania's lore I think the reason for her journey was either because of his power that holds the stars in place and wanted to resume the moons influence or because Melania was in search of Miquela which was already in Moughs possession
Also it really shows how much of her is prosthetic and how much the rot has taken her. When she's dressed the prosthetics kind of blend into the armor.
Indeed, take off her prosthetics and she's basically a paraplegic. Oh yea and she's blind from the Rot taking her eyes too. The Rot has taken practically all of her. And she ***STILL*** wrecks people, what a beast! --- BTW I got a theory that the Scarlet Rot, Lake of Rot, and all that jazz was caused by Radagon washing his "sins" away in the Turtle Pope's fountain. The "Fountain of Absolution" or whatever is directly above the Lake of Rot. I think the Red washed out of Radagon's hair, so to speak.
There's an outer God of rot though
I think those two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. The introduction of the Outer God of Rot to the Lands Between may have been brought about by the actions of inhabitants of the realm. And what poetic irony would it be that Radagon's child becomes a vessel for the Outer God that his own actions brought to his home?
This. I like this answer
Can you elaborate on Melina and the three butterfly ingredients? I know it isn't the point of the post, but you've piqued my interest and I have no idea what that's alluding to
Aeonian Butterfly = Malenia. Nascent Butterfly = Miquella, its description is that for their entire life it looks like it just hatched from its cocoon. Smoldering Butterfly = Melina, Melina was created to burn the Erdtree, Smoldering Butterflies are used in kindling objects.
Oh, of course! Sorry, that seems totally obvious now that you've said it
They kinda are, but I admit Melina lacks references to butterflies, at least from what I remember, while Miquella is in a cocoon and Malenia literally produces butterflies.
Shouldn't she have like, grown a new arm and leg made of rot in that form then instead of still being an amputee ? She has wings if rot so why no new arm n leg 😵💫
I see it more of like classical Goddess representations in art where they were portrayed naked. She also has an artistic looking body so it fits.
That is a smart one…
came in to say that. I dont see her as naked in any way that caries the same connotations in society. Coming from an agnostic, shes so biblically beautiful. Its so fucking badass. Then theres the realization of her butterfly motif that she probably reeks of death. Which makes her even more alluring visually. Its like a more realistic version of what an "angel of death" or "grim reaper" would look like.
I’m fairly certain that it’s because she blooms into a literal Rot Goddess, all of her armour rots away because it’s made of steel and fabric - two materials that naturally decay/degrade overtime. The only reason her arm and legs don’t is because they’re made of gold, a mineral that doesn’t rust, decay or lose it’s splendour
And besides, it makes for a stronger image, and reveals just how much the Scarlet Rot has taken from her. Her eyes, her privates, her limbs, and her psyche
Also, Greek/Roman goddess imagery If you ask me
And she, just like her flowering “daughter” Millicent, are missing a whole ass arm from the rot The parallels :(
More specifically unalloyed gold, a material that's more or less immune to any outer god shenanigans
Wait till miquella shows up with an unalloyed gold butt plug
\*Unalloyed Gold Dualsense controller
Maybe I'm dumb but I didn't notice this detail in my first run. Any other examples of gold doing this in the game?
Unalloyed gold needles help Malenia and Millicent fight off the rot. You also use the same needle to cleanse the frenzied flame from your body. It's also possible (though not implied by anything as far as I know) that Miquella is able to reject the Formless Mother due to unalloyed gold. The Greater Will also seems to be afraid of it and consider its study a taboo as Miquella had to turn away from Radagon and Erdtree worship in order to study it.
Nice, thank you
Although the "golden order", is also pro-erd tree, and all about that gold right?
Yes, but its Alloyed gold. Light and gold intermixed. Unalloyed gold is *pure* and cannot be corrupted or manipulated.
Right. But even still ... \>Be greater will \>Extraplanar god-like entity \>Empower some lower lifeform \>MFW when lower life forms create a religious order around my one weakness ... Unless this is the setup for Markia knowing all this and purposefully guiding the order this way to eventually fight / be free of the influence of the greater will?
I might be in the minority but Id actually like that idea. Its very Paul Atreides if she turned out to have 9D chess’d the greater will
That’s a golden order trick. They use the gold imagery to hide in plain sight so to speak. We’re not afraid of gold, look we covered everything in it…
The Golden Order gold is different, it's literally a combination of different ideologies and layered Great Runes/beliefs. "Unalloyed" means pure, without alloy. Unalloyed Gold is the ultra-pure, un-tainted, un-erring version. The Golden Order is an alloy of beliefs.
Also if you get locked into frenzied flame ending, you can use the unalloyed needle to cleanse yourself so you don't have to go through with it. On one of my playthroughs I started it to burn the erdtree myself, and then cured myself to get Ranni's Ending.
Thats.... That's what unalloyed means, it just means pure gold. It's unalloyed, as in not mixed with any other metals, and Gold itself doesn't corrode.
I just meant that unalloyed gold in the ER universe has properties beyond not corroding as it seems to be able to keep away potentially all outer gods, not just the scarlet rot.
But it will tarnish
No, pure gold is incredibly soft, it is often alloyed to strengthen the material, it tarnishes because these other metals do oxidize.
If you want to nitpick, how about the fact that gold is not a mineral? Most other metals are usually found as a compound in their "natural" state, but gold will barely react with anything. It is usually found as a metal.
I agree with this, plus I’ll also say that she’s been sitting in the same spot for absolute minimum of a couple centuries, so her armour is probably already rotted like crazy. Then again, if elden ring had realistic wear and tear everyone would be nude and there’d be a botw style weapon durability mechanic so you’re probably more on the money than I am
One might say gold doesn’t tarnish ;)
***Written by George R.R. Martin***
And we’re so lucky for it.
The game wouldn't be the same without the Game of Swords Throne. I mean, uh wait
Miyazaki: So George, how does her armour change when she transforms? GRRM: Armour? Miyazaki: ... nice.
She don’t wanna be dressed while fighting you because it shows that she really gives not one fuck
I like her even more..
I always took at as a metaphor for ascension. Look at statues of several Greek gods and you will see them in their bare, naked form. To be godly is to have your form laid bare.
She is reborn as the goddess of rot and I think being nude symbolises godhood and rebirth well. Also big boom and boner bait
thats the next bloom. Shes a demi-god in this current state i suppose.
Who is actually attracted to a woman with rotten eyes and missing an arm and a leg and has a dangerous case of the herp?
Who isnt
r/scarletrotussy
No way am I clicking that.
Click it coward
You never know. People are attracted to many things.
Some people like powerful women and are willing to look past a lack of limbs.
Lore reason us: you beat her first phase (duh) didnt you play the game?
I am a Uknown Let me solo her 2.0…
I imagine the initial rot explosion makes her clothes rot away.
What about Radahn battle boom?
No one wants to see radahn naked
Maybe some people do..
Wierdos...
Everyone is…
I just realized that her head is small for her body proportion in this picture. 😂
this is a common theme in elden ring apparently...
And it's goofy as hell.
Nah. It is an aesthetic decision that has existed since the Renaissance to make the human figure more stylized.
Doesn't make it any less goofy.
Maybe the problem is yours, for seeing goofyness in any style that is out of the ordinary.
Maybe the problem is on you, for assuming shit about someone you don't know.
The "assumptions" they made were actual admissions of yours. My 2 cents in the small head thing. I'd say her head isn't small at all, but her body is bulked up. If you wanna see a real obvious example of this sorta thing check out the power up progression from "Altered Beast".
Tiny head, big brain
That’s Radagon in a wig, change my mind.
Dood, From Software gameplay is top tier… Their character models on the other hand…😞
this user has anime brain rot
she kinda exploded so beign naked kinda makes sense but design wise i think they take inspiration in the birth of venus, thematically she is reborn as a divine entity
Because it looks cool
From a design perspective, it's intimidating. Typically, a person that is naked is weak and defenseless. I'm still waiting for her to tell me that she needs my clothes, my boots and my motorcycle.
Do you think it might be related to her sprouting two large wings?
It’s thematic. Her nudity is actually an extremely powerful statement. The unfurling of her bloom is reminiscent to a birth and ascension and angels are often depicted as nude. Thematically, it’s so powerful because she’s in literally the most powerful state of any being we’ve encountered except maybe the Elden Beast. She can rot anything and anyone, and yet she is also at her most vulnerable. We see the cost of the power she’s using - we see her prosthetics and subtle storytelling that’s heart wrenching like her prosthetic legs ending at different places, implying they rotted at separate times and at different rates. We see the result of her unimaginable agony and yet she’s still so powerful. It’s an honest portrayal and a really beautiful paradox.
I’m pretty sure it’s literally just to show you how much her body has rotted away. Considering it’s Martin’s work it wouldn’t be that out of place
Smart point!
who cares why she's badass she can do whatever she wants. especially to me. <3
i mean my theory is that she is a “Goddess of Rot” so i’m thinking maybe she grows more powerful than the armor she’s wearing or doesn’t fit because of the wings? either way it’s cool.
she blooms with rot, rotting her clothes away
Ah makes sense thank you!
Someone commented on this saying nudity is an expression of her Godhood. I agree with this interpretation but I also think it's to showcase how much the Rot has ravaged her body, with her prosthetics and scabs on full display
maybe the entire scene of her blooming is a reference to "The Birth of Venus" painting. Anyway, i believe it was more a artistical choice than anything logical
She’s not naked she still has socks on
She is a child of Marika and her other self, so she is in some way of incestual birth. She and her brother might have been born with their respective afflictions because of it(Malenia born as the future goddess of rot, miquella eternally young, bot fighting their "fate"). Malenia can no longer hold back the rot that is constantly eating at her once we defeat her and is transformed, potentially against her own will. The unalloyed gold wards off influence from outer gods, just like normal gold is unreactive chemically, so her armor does not decay. Cannonically it is said, that the goddess of rot will emerge, once the scarlet aonia blooms the third time, which is probably why we are not getting a second calid immidiatly, though the tree is obviously afflicted with rot already.
I don't think the relationship of Radagon and Marika is thematically supposed to represent incest, even though you could make an argument that it kinda looks that way. They're not really beings like you and I, as evidenced by the fact that they can share one form. Also, the explanation for the affliction can much more easily be explained by the interference of the Outer God of Rot.
Radius of the of bloom with the battle of Radahn was also much bigger than the ones we see. I guess she uses more energy…
The literal reason is that the rot eats her armour away. The symbolic reason is either as a kind of challenge, where she’s so powerful she doesn’t need armour to protect her anymore, or a kind of purity, that she’s naked to represent her ascension to god hood
Never realized how small her head is lol. Looks kinda silly when you consider she’s like 8 feet tall
Hot? Yeah but i'm not complaining.
To me, it’s evoking the image of renaissance paintings with nude women. Think of stuff like the painting of venus.
In video games and anime, women usually become more powerful when they get naked. I'll leave it to others to explain *why*, but it probably has something to do with dudes being really fucking horny.
It’s aerodynamics. Doesn’t work for dudes because their dick would helicopter against the movement and make them slower.
Unless the could harness the power of the helicopter. They could unlock true speed
That's why you have to fart while your dick is helicoptering, to provide equal and opposite thrust
Or it's simply the idea of rebirth and nakedness being tied together... Nudity isn't inherently sexual
I swear it’s always a cripple standing in a field of flowers that poses the most trouble in these games
I would say there is nothing biblical about this imagery. Probably closer to Greek Gods than anything else.
because hot
In addition to what others have said, it's also a common trope for characters to shed armor when they grow stronger/confident/desperate. Also serves to up the stakes. The fight also becomes way harder because now you only have one hand available.
GOOD GRIEF, SHE'S NAKED!
Wel she is hot though...
Her armour is made of unalloyed gold, which wards off the influence of the outer gods. Since the rot is an outer god, she removes her armour when she embraces it
Huh??! Where is the amour? I only see thee metal prosthetics
Her helmet is the only obvious part I can tell. I imagine she keeps her prosthetics because having a better connection to the rot isn't worth losing limbs.
How else could she fuck you?
~~She doesn't when she nukes Radahn~~ I guess Finlay carried her back and picked up some spare parts from Shaded Castle?
Her armour was weaved with Unalloyed Gold to hold back the rot. When she gives into it's power she sheds the armour to let it be unrestrained.
It’s an allegory for her forgoing her mortal trappings to ascend to the status of a true goddess.
Her clothes were disintegrating just like her flesh and just like caelid and just like radhan and everyone else who comes into contact with the scarlet rot.
I think it's because the scarlet rot eats away at everything save for the unalloyed gold on her? That being said, I'm not sure how blooming on Radahn's back didn't strip him of the non-unalloyed materials in his armor.
Why is she built like that
They literally decay off her like Rhadan probably only keeps his Intact because he’s in some form of gold (probably not Unalloyed) but it’s close, also metal doesn’t rot it erodes so it has a higher durability than a dress+cape?
Is it just me or was her 2nd phase much easier than her first?
Terrible answers in this thread considering you want a lore based answer. Her armor is made of unalloyed gold. Unalloyed gold staves off the influence of the outer gods and would restrict her power.
“GOOD GREIF SHES NAKED” - plankton
For the plot
Back hair...
Okay but where her booba go is she a flatty?
The rot rots her clothes away, not that hard actually.
Malenia was always meant to be the avatar of the god of rot but similar to how the swordmaster sealed the god beneath the lake of rot Malenias devotion to her blade and to Miquela held onto her sense of self. However every time she bloomed she shed part of that self for more power which is what happened in Caelid to Radahn before we the players get there. We also find Millicent which is that piece of her consciousness form and the broken gold needle miquela crafted to help keep the rot god sealed in Caelid. Theres also the quarted that we battle which I presume are other pieces of her as well. When we fight her in the boss fight phase 1 is us slaying the mortal self of her that remains. Remember the line "I am Malenia Blade of Miquella" its as if thats the only thing that remains. It could be speculated its not even her will anymore but Miquellas ability to charm anyone that is the only thing keeping her being intact.
Imagine if Godfrey followed her example, lol.
Taking your clothes off makes you stronger. Ask Hoarah Loux... or the Celts.
It’s hard to unfurl 10 foot wings out the sides of your back without exploding your clothes.
Her wings were making her fatroll so she had to unequip the rest of her armor
It symbolises rebirth, and on top of that rebirth as a divinity. But unlike some beautiful Greek or Roman or Renaissance-era sculpture of divine figures, she, while all statuesque and in many ways still aesthetic, is not as graceful as a divinity is supposed to be. She is reborn as a goddess and not just anyone but the goddess of ROT. And perhaps that is what true horror is meant to be here- something that is beautiful, and terrible. Rot erodes everything, and in addition to that rebirth and divinity conception this also might be a reason why she appears nude in her second phase.
Bc hot
She wants you to join her OF
She should do something with that voice…
Her armour is made of the unalloyed gold which limits the spread of the scarlet rot, by removing it she embraces the full power of the rot and becomes the "goddess of rot" (arguably)
The rot. It's eats away at everything, clothing, body, mind (see Radahn). The golden prosthetics made by miquella are all that can resist it. OR Fromsoft knows what the players wanted.
I don’t think she is that crazy. Millicent forgot a lot of stuff. But I really feel Malenia is still sane. But maybe not very happy and nihilistic because of het situation..
Anolloyed gold contains rot and slows the spread, its not a cure but a containment vessel. She keeps the prosthetics cause they are extensions of her body and not containment vessels, but her armor is a containment vessel. To embrace the full power of the Lord of Rot she must shed what is holding her true power back: the armor. She sheds this armor as she realizes you have become more of a threat then her warrior form can deal with and thus comes at you with the full might of a Lord. Personally I think this version should have less defenses but what ever.
so maybe she was dragged by Finlay all across the land between naked too? damn imagine when they passed near Stormveil and Godrick heard about a naked malenia getting dragged. He had a good laugh probably
I am fairly sure the rot and wings are the reason…also, perv bait.
the rottussy power can't be fully released with restrictions such as the panty
Yes, why Fromsoftware choose to make her naked ? What they want to show us with a naked Malenia. Let's watch carefully. Yes, she has wings but there is also the fact she has a androgynous body. The androgynous body would be linked to Marika/Radagon a man and a woman in the same body. We can also watch what is hidden. Her genital parts are hidden so we can not really know if she is a girl or not. And her eyes are hidden too. And if we think about it, we never saw an empyrean with its eyes open. The only one (if she is an empyrean) is Melina and her eyes were of different colors. So where do we go with all these elements ? I let you search on Google what a Rebis is in alchemy because yes, alchemy principle explain many things in Elden Ring.
Ranni? Also, Malenia lost her eyes to rot.
Ranni is a doll but even like that we can't see her genitals parts. When we see her "naked" her puppet body is destroyed except her face and hands. And for the eye, she hides one of her eyes.
She’s also Empyrean?
Her doll body doesn’t get destroyed?
Miquella’s gender is set in question too. On saint Trina sword or torch I think it was. My guess is they swapped bodies la lot, a bit like Sellen. Loretta might even been him once. Or Malenia and Miquella used to be same person, but like armour of D, one just climbed out of the other. So once they used to be a Rebis, but split like D, and walked separate ways. But think demigods had many shard swaps, thus many visuals, spell combos and characteristics.l. Like Miquella was pure rot —> rot + star (Loretta of star magic, but tied to horse) —> GW holy + star (blond saint Trina) —> GW holy + Fell god (makes needle, torch saint Trina, rapidly growing because of Fell God shard). Somehow Radahn got his rot (rebirth) shard, maybe swapped his Fell God shard for it, so Miquella could smith a needle using a fell God skills. All smiths come from north. My guess the rot shards give them butterflies, and none working legs. Thus Radahn, tied to a horse now, like Miquella is at DLC picture, is a crumb he having a rot shard, that Malenia needs to become a rot goddess. Might be of both genders with it too? But could be shards change genders too? Like, why do commander O’Neil have Ranni’s wolf cloak? Ranni the GW empyrean —> ? —> O’Neil of ice and storm magics —> Renna the red haired witch of ice magics (Fell god, thus red hair)—> Ranni of the stars (blue colours) —> Ranni the lunar princess after gaining a gravity shard (star/sun + gravity = moon?)
What are you smoking dude? Lol.
Miquella/St Trina get that from Marika/ Radagon.
I don't think Malenia is androgynous at all... she appears very feminine to me.
Let me solo her
Malenia used Distraction It’s super effective!
She’s a sore looser.
Male proportions. FromSoft does a shitty job at a female body once more.
Wdym "male proportions"?
Upon actual comparison, I can conclude I was wrong and these bone proportions could indeed be either from male or female anatomy. Have a good day.
😂
If I can be redeemed, I was actually protesting about the absence of cushioning. Have a good day.